Dasia Bauri – The holy disciple of Lord Jagannath

Devotion brings sublimation.And souls inhabit the evolved lives or they have the ability to reform one.While travelling to Lord Jagannath dham Puri,you will come accross a village called Baligaon,you can notice that it is clearly written – Dashia Village.Nestling amidst lush greenery,with coconuts,rice fields and banyan trees and several ponds of clear water very often blessed with lotus flowers,the thatched huts and dusty roads led us to the holy land of Dasia Bauri,one among the greatest disciple of Lord Jagannath.

It is said Lord Jagannath , the God of the Universe is the Lord of his disciples , in Odia there is a saying “Bhakta ra Bhagawan” . History is the witness that Lord Jagannath has always blessed his devotees and gave them darshan.You must have read about Bhakta Salabega & Dashia Bauri.

Dasia Bauri was a great devotee of Lord Jagannath in the 15th century AD.He was born into a low caste of weavers’ family and lived with his wife Malati in a hut.He did his traditional weaving for living.He was an untouchable who lived in abject poverty.He was great devotee of Lord Jagannath. Once, people from his village were going to the Jagannath Temple at Puri.Since Dasia was too poor to go along with them and had nothing else to offer to his Lord,he gave them a coconut.He requested them to offer the coconut to Lord Jagannath at Aruna Stamba outside the main gate.The villagers laughed at his suggestion but acceded to his request.The very next day there were amazed to find only the shell of the coconut exactly at the same spot where they had left the offering.This proved beyond doubt that the Lord Jagannath had received the offering given by Dasia.

The King arranged for food to be sent every day to Dasia’s home.After that every year Dasia Bauri would send a basket full of ripe mangoes for Lord Jagannath. The next day the priests would discover the kernels at the altar, a sure sign that the Lord was accepting his loyal devotee’s affection.

One night Dasia and his family had nothing to eat. Lord Jagannath appeared at the gate in disguise asking for food. Dasia’s wife Malati could not find even a morsel to feed the hungry guest. Finally she could manage a grain of rice and offered it to the visitor. The guest accepted her offering and declaring that he was satisfied left.

That night the King of Puri had a dream.It was revealed to him that Dasia Bauri and his family were all going to sleep hungry because there was not a single crumb of food in the house.The King arranged for food to be sent every day to Dasia’s home.

To this day, just after the Prasad/Bhog is offered to the divine trinity, the first offering is sent to Dasia Bauri.